No. 5 Auburn beats No. 20 Kansas State, 20-14

Nick Marshall threw two touchdown passes, Auburn forced three turnovers and the fifth-ranked Tigers held on to beat mistake-prone No. 20 Kansas State, 20-14, on Thursday night.

Marshall finished with 231 yards passing for the Tigers (3-0), who were forced to the air by a Wildcats defense that was bent on stopping the run. The nation’s sixth-ranked rushing attack had only 130 yards on the ground, 200 fewer than its season average.

Not that it mattered the way Kansas State (2-1) squandered its chances.

Jake Waters threw for 245 yards, but he also had two passes intercepted — one in the Auburn end zone. The Wildcats also fumbled the ball away, and Jack Cantele missed three field-goal attempts.

Kansas State tried to mount a rally in the closing minutes, scoring on a run by Charles Jones out of the wildcat formation with 3:49 left. After the kickoff, Auburn soon faced third and nine at its own 37 with 2:06 left. Marshall dropped back and found D’haquille Williams running wide open downfield, and the 39-yard completion resulted in a first down and effectively ended the game.

The win was the Tigers’ first on the road against a nonconference opponent since Virginia in 1997, and the first over a ranked nonconference foe on the road since Florida State in 1984.

Tigers, Huskies agree to series

Connecticut and Missouri have agreed to a home-and-home football series, the first meetings between the programs.

The schools announced Thursday that Connecticut will visit Columbia, Mo., on Sept. 19, 2015, and the teams will play Sept. 23, 2017, at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.

The agreement completes the Huskies’ out-of-conference schedule for both seasons. Connecticut already has games scheduled with Villanova, Army and at Brigham Young next season.

They will play Massachusetts, Holy Cross and at Virginia in 2017. The Huskies’ 2016 nonconference slate includes games with Maine, Massachusetts and Virginia.

Missouri adds Connecticut to a nonconference schedule next season that also includes Southeast Missouri State and at Arkansas State.

Connecticut has a 2-2 record against current teams in the Southeastern Conference.

Etc.

Texas Tech defensive coordinator Matt Wallerstedt has resigned for unspecified personal reasons.

Wallerstedt said in a statement issued by the university Thursday that he was stepping side “because I want the best for the Red Raider program, and this will allow them to go in a different direction on defense.”

Mike Smith, who shared the coordinator title with Wallerstedt, will be in charge of the defense for the rest of the season.

The 48-year-old Wallerstedt joined the staff when former Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury was hired as coach last year. They were on the staff together at Texas A&M in 2012.

The Red Raiders (2-1), who are coming off a 49-28 loss at home to Arkansas, open Big 12 play at Oklahoma State next Thursday.